Tuesday, April 7, 2015

New (to me) Authors, 1st Quarter 2015

At the end of every quarter, Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise hosts a meme for the best new-to-me crime fiction authors. Check out other posts for this quarter

In January, February, and March 2015, I read three authors that were new to me per month. All of the books by new authors that I read were entertaining. And there was a good variety in the settings.

These are the books by new authors that I read this quarter:

The 39 Steps by John Buchan
Villain by Shuichi Yoshida
The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe
Cookie's Case by Andy Siegel
Murder in the Raw by William Campbell Gault
Too Late to Die by Bill Crider
A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames
The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris
Death Was the Other Woman by Linda L. Richards

From this list, these two books made the most impression on me this quarter:

Murder in the Raw by William Campbell Gault was the first in a series of novels featuring Brock Callahan, an ex-LA Ram football player, who becomes a private detective in Beverly Hills, California. That novel was first published under the title Ring Around Rosa (which is more descriptive)The cover of my edition describes the book as a hard-boiled classic. This book seemed to have less sex and violence than I had expected in that genre.


Too Late to Die by Bill Crider is the first book in the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series, which now totals 21 books.  Dan Rhodes is up for reelection to the job of Sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas. His jurisdiction covers small towns and rural areas, where everyone knows everyone.

The pacing of the story is slow but steady, until towards the end when the action speeds up. Crider combines good characterization of the Sheriff, and his family, friends and enemies, with an interesting picture of rural Texas. The story is told with dry humor.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a nice range of new-to-you authors you have here, Tracy! I really need to read more of Crider's work, so I'm glad you reminded us of it.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Margot. Some of these authors are relatively new but I am glad I finally got to reading a book by Crider, Gault, and Buchan.

Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) said...

Apart from Buchan I would have to say these would all be new to me (and in fact, still are) - thank for the guidance Tracy!

TracyK said...

Sergio, the problem I have with trying new authors is that I nearly always want to read more books by them. And there just is not time.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, Bill Crider is definitely on my list this year.

TracyK said...

You won't be sorry, Prashant. I am pretty sure you will like Crider's writing.

col2910 said...

Glad you had a fair few enjoyable newbies first quarter. Shames and Buchan I have enjoyed (same books as you), Ferris is on the pile and Crider I'm envious of. Others, I haven't encountered before.

I'm a bit unsure if I'll do the new-author-meme thing this year. I want to cut down on my blogging a bit and read more.

TracyK said...

I am totally sympathetic with more reading, less blogging. Although sometimes I find it hard to have time for either. And you are always reading a lot of new authors, so it is a lot of work to list them. Ferris and Crider are both good. Of course you have sampled some Crider already. I have to try the Ellie Taine books.

Elizabeth said...

These books sound good.

Thanks for sharing.

Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Blog

TracyK said...

They were all very entertaining, Elizabeth. I was fortunate this quarter to find so many great authors that I had not read before.